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Monthly Archives: April 2013

This is a fun pie to make and put together. It involves a bit of bashing, a bit of mixing and a bit of chilling..and you’re all done! No baking, no cooking, just bash and mix.

For my pie, I chose blackcurrants for the tangy flavour, and also the colour. I wanted a slight ‘sourness’ to dance around with the slightly sweetened cream cheese, and the cookie base.

The creaminess and velvety smooth texture of the filling, when eaten in the same mouth full as the biscuit base is a wonderful combination texture, offering an all over creamy, crunchy, sweet and tangy flavour and texture all at once!

You can be as creative as you like with this pie. Add the fruits that you like the most, just stick to the ‘soft’ berry type fruits and you will certainly please anyone who has the pleasure of tasting this!.

There are many types of noodles available in the shops, ranging from egg noodles (yellow) to rice noodles (white). They also come in different shapes and thicknesses, and as you would expect, recipes will differ according to the type of noodle, as well as the country / region where it is most popular.

This recipe I am sharing is using rice noodles. They are my favourite.

I find rice noodles not too heavy and filling, and extremely easy and quick to prepare. It’s such a versatile ingredient, often fried or eaten in a broth.

You can choose your favourite meat, or no meat at all. Also, you can swap any of the vegetables for your favourite ones, or whatever you may have in your fridge.

The main thing is to achieve a Chinese flavour so where possible, try to use the marinade ingredients.

Choose 1 handful amount of 3 of your favourite vegetables, such as peppers, beansprouts, broccoli, courguettes / zucchini, mushrooms. To that you can add what ever meat you wish. Just remember to slice the meat thinly

The trick with making any Chinese food and it’s guaranteed success is to prepare everything before hand. You need to get all your ingredients together, chopped, diced, sauces prepared, absolutely everything that belongs in a recipe must be at hand when you fire your wok up to inferno temperatures!

Quiche is such a versatile recipe. Originally from Germany, the French adopted it and made a few changes, such as the addition of cheese in the filling, and hey presto! The famous Quiche Lorraine was born. Traditionally, the humble quiche was made with a bread dough, then a savoury custard filling. Nowadays, the flan case is usually made with a shortcrust pastry, and one of the most common fillings, in addition to the custard, is cheese and bacon lardons.

Here, we are going to make the basic quiche pastry base, together with a savoury cheese & custard filling, and go wild, adding favourite ingredients.

The quiche should have a ‘rustic’ look to it, so don’t be worried about being neat with your presentation or pastry skills! So follow along and see how easy and tasty you can make a quiche!

I like it the most when it’s served warm, although it is also nice cold, for a picnic, lunch box, party, buffet etc.

I have to confess I am not the biggest fan of eating chicken breast or white meat as it is often called. The reasons being firstly, the meat can be easily overcooked, or cooked using a technique not suited to the ‘structure’ of the meat, resulting in a dry chewy experience. Second, there is not much flavour in the meat itself as it is lower in fat than it’s neighbour, the thigh or leg, and is often bought without the skin on. Both the fat and skin on meat add heaps of flavour and moisture during the cooking process, so when these two things are missing, it is no wonder why the chicken breast can be a ‘boring, tasteless, dry and chewy’ experience.

I appreciate some people don’t like to eat meat on the bone, nor do they like fat or skin. I also appreciate these same diners do like TASTE, TEXTURE and enjoyment from every bite of meat they take.

My challenge was to come up with a chicken breast recipe which was quick, versatile and most importantly, tasty, succulent and full of flavour. Because this is such a quick recipe, I’ve also included instructions of cooking some potatoes & courgettes / zucchini to accompany the chicken. The fact that this whole meal can be ready on your table within 15 minutes has got to be a bonus!

To maintain the moisture in the meat, it has got to be cooked very fast. This means doing a little ‘work out’ on your meat, so it is not as thick. If you cook meat under a high heat, the outer layer will be quickly cooked, thus sealing all the meat juices within the body of outer sealed layer. This is important to achieve the moisture we want. So roll your sleeves up and get your skates on for a very fast cooking experience!

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Say hello! to our East Meets West Cottage Pie. There are many recipes available for Cottage Pie, and indeed Shepherd’s Pie, which uses lamb mince as opposed to beef.

The humble Cottage Pie can be traced back as far as 1791,when the potato was introduced as an edible crop and was made affordable to poor people. It wasn’t until nearly 100 years later that the Shepherd’s Pie came about.

Originally, the cottage pie recipe consisted of using up any leftovers and the pie dish would have a lining inside the dish of mashed potato as well as a mashed potato crust on the top. These days, the most popular is to use the mashed potato only on the top of the pie.

We carried out a mini survey over at our Lovefoodies Facebook page and asked which pie everyone preferred – a Shepherd’s or cottage pie. The votes were split, and we couldn’t decide! Someone came up with the name ‘Moo-Baah’ Pie, after the sound a cow and a lamb would make (referring to the use of minced beef or lamb), so we also affectionately call this a ‘Moo-baah’ pie over on Facebook!

Here in this recipe, as with many at Lovefoodies, we try and add a bit more flavour and jazz, so that our taste buds get tickled and try and make a dish really something to remember. Of course, you can always leave out some of the spices and herbs, and just eat it plain….but that wouldn’t be much fun!

Having made apple crumble from as young as 12 years old, I decided to make some changes and play around with some flavours to make something new and delicious. The humble apple crumble still features in my kitchen every so often, but I have to say, this Pear & Almond Crumble takes the traditional recipe to another taste level.

The addition of the ground almonds to the crumble makes it crunchier and tastier, the pears adds a refreshing change to apple, and the addition of the spices seem to enhance the flavours of the pear and almond. I have to say, the combination of flavours, textures, and indeed the smells coming from the oven are truly a delicious cooking and eating experience! Served with warm custard, this is by far one of my favourite and most pleasing desserts. In this recipe, I have made it easier regarding preparation time, by using mixed spice / pumpkin pie spice. However, if you wanted to use a cinnamon stick, cloves and star anise and infuse the pears in hot water with the spices for a few hours, you could. I did this method at Christmas time, and it does give a gentle ‘spice’ flavour to every bite. Really quite sublime.

Nothing beats Home Made Custard. I like it so much I often serve it with puddings, or just eat it straight from the bowl. The addition of using the seeds from the vanilla pod really does make a difference, so if your budget will allow, it is well worth adding it to the custard.

The silkiness and creamy texture combined with the smell from the vanilla truly is a pleasure.

"There was for Saba, aforetime, a sign in their homeland [Yemen] two gardens to the right and to the left . . . be grateful to Him[Allah] . . .But they turned away, and We sent against them the flood released from the Dams [Maarib dam]" (Qur'an. Saba:15-16)

"They ask you what is lawful for them (as food ). Say:'Lawful unto you are At Tayyibât [all kind of Halâl (lawful good) foods which Allâh has made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals, milk products, fats, vegetables and fruits, etc.)]. . . but pronounce the Name of Allâh over it, and fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is Swift in reckoning." (5:4)

Don't ever change yourself to impress someone, cause they should be impressed that you don't change to please others -- When you are going through something hard and wonder where God is, always remember that the teacher is always quiet during a test --- Unknown